


Knowing When to Give Up

by AthenaReigns



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Mild Hurt/Comfort, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25806700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AthenaReigns/pseuds/AthenaReigns
Summary: After Hardeen everyone is struggling to accept Obi-Wan back with open arms, and while he had been willing to accept that, there comes a point when it seems easier to just give up than keep begging for forgiveness.It takes someone completely unexpected to change some opinions.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Asajj Ventress, Obi-Wan Kenobi & CT-7567 | Rex
Comments: 22
Kudos: 468





	Knowing When to Give Up

**Author's Note:**

> This story has not been beta read, any mistakes are mine alone. 
> 
> If you are looking for a new story to enjoy, I would seriously recommend: 
> 
> The Point of Nothing by RobinPlaysTrumpet15

Grey-blue eyes stared down at the tea leaves swirling in his mug, the screen of his datapad having switched itself off from lack of use hours ago. Obi-Wan sighed, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, trying valiantly to alleviate the headache that hadn't disappeared since he came back. Harsh words and angry conversations flashed through his mind: 

_"You didn't trust me enough to tell me!"_

_"I don't understand how you could do this to us!"_

_"Clearly you don't care about us at all, if it's this easy to lie to your men."_

_"With all due respect, sir, I don't want anything to do with you right now."_

_"Things would have been better if Qui-Gon were alive..."_

The last one had hurt the most, almost as much as the fist Cody had planted in his face. It had been two tendays since he had come back and things had only gotten worse. Whenever the accusations had stopped being thrown, a stony silence had taken its place. The only time he was ever acknowledged was on the field, and even then it was with a grumbled understanding that he did know what he was doing. Anakin still ignored most of his orders, but in all honesty the familiarity of that was almost comforting. And wasn't that thought just depressing. He was brought out of his, quite frankly self loathing thoughts by the chime of his comm, indicating an incoming call. 

"Mace?" Obi-Wan questioned, surprise echoing in his question as he gazed down at the transparent image of his fellow council member, "Is everything alright?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, Obi-Wan." Mace replied, the worry plain on his face. Obi-Wan's eyebrows raised in response causing the other man to sigh wearily, "Commander Ponds came to me earlier, there is a rumour going around the GAR. Apparently the members of the 212th and 501st seem to be holding a grudge?" 

"Ah." Obi-Wan responded tightly, falling back into the chair behind him, running a hand through his hair,

"Not a rumour I'm afraid." He watched as the quiet admission caused a number of emotions to cross the stoic masters face before he finally settled on regret. 

"I'm sorry Obi-Wan, I didn't realise that this would happen when we asked you to do this." Mace said, sadness tinging every word. Obi-Wan sighed before shrugging slightly. 

"You have nothing to apologise for my friend, this is hardly your fault. I guess..." Obi-Wan trailed off slightly, the prized Negotiator struggling around the sudden lump that had formed in his throat, "I guess I just assumed that my being alive would have been enough. Not to make the lie OK, but enough to make it easier to forgive."

"I wish there was something I could say, while I may have agreed with keeping them in the dark, I, like yourself, assumed that this would be forgiven far quicker than this." Mace said. At the beginning, Obi-Wan had wanted to place the blame at Mace's feet, the man had argued that this was the best course of action. Seeing the true regret shining through, he didn't have the heart to throw his own accusations. 

"You didn't know, this isn't your fault" The truth of the statement rang true in the Force, "I'm just not sure how much longer I can continue with the hate." Mace's eyes widened at the admission, it was unlike his friend to be so open. 

"Maybe you need some distance from the situation?" Mace suggested, watching as the redhead's eyebrow lifted in surprise. 

"What did you have in mind?" Obi-Wan questioned

"Ponds told me that you have been trying to rebuild the relationship with your men and Anakin, maybe you need to give them a bit more time to calm down. Let them realise that there might be more to the situation?" Mace replied. He had been shocked when his Commander had come to him after talking with both Rex and Cody.

Ponds had been genuinely worried for the General of the 212th. It was hard to hear that the well respected and much loved man was being treated as a pariah due to actions taken by the council. 

Obi-Wan raised a hand to absently stroke his beard, he had taken every opportunity to apologise for his actions. The harsh words hurled from the men, Anakin and even Ahsoka made it clear that no one was ready to hear them. 

"Perhaps you are right..."

-

Ahsoka bit her lip, fingers twisting together nervously as she padded through the halls of the Negotiator. It had been days since she had last spoken to Master Obi-Wan, if you could call the harsh accusations she had launched at the man "speaking" to someone, and the wrecked look on his face had caused a pool of guilt to build in her stomach to the point she truly believed she would be sick at any moment. 

The thought of Obi-Wan's death had shaken her to her core, she had missed him dearly when he was gone and had worried endlessly over her own Master's unstable emotions, that when she had heard that he was alive, the hurt and the relief had clashed to create something ugly and bitter. She had lashed out. She hadn't meant to, but once the flood gates were open it was so hard to close them again. It wasn't just her, everyone was struggling with the revelation. So it was easier to push the man away, than listen to his reasoning. Ahsoka just didn't realise how many of them would push him away. Not until the comm call from Master Koon, his words still ringing in her ears, pouring fire on the raging guilt building. 

_"Master Kenobi petitioned the Council for all of you to be made aware of the mission. It was an argument that lasted many days, unfortunately it was decided that it would be safer for you to be kept in the dark. Both for the Chancellor and Obi-Wan." The Drell paused, seemingly at a loss for how the situation had spilled so out of control. "If I had been aware of the outcome, I would have pushed harder for you to be told."_

Ahsoka realised that the decision hadn't been Obi-Wan's alone, he had been as powerless as she in this horrible situation, 

She just hoped it wasn't too late to fix things. 

-

Cody tugged his bucket more firmly under his arm as he stalked to the bridge. The summons from the General had been brief, and Cody wasn't sure if he was relieved that there was no stuttered apology this time or concerned. Walking in he took in the annoyed form of General Skywalker glaring over at General Kenobi, Rex and Commander Tano standing slightly behind exchanging worried glances. Cody walked up to them. 

"Sir, you requested my presence." Cody stated icily, the lack of salute causing Rex to shift uncomfortably. Cody felt surprise rise within him when the only acknowledgement he received was a quick glance of grey eyes. 

"We received the following transmission from Ventress." Obi-Wan replied, pressing a button on the console. Ventress's translucent form appeared in front of them. 

_"My dear Obi-Wan."_ The former Sith drawled, causing Cody to grind his back teeth in frustration. While he might have been annoyed at the man, he couldn't prevent the rage that sprung up with the overly familiar drawl. _"It has come to my attention that you managed to stop Dooku's assassination of the Chancellor, unfortunately for you, seems like he has another plan in the works. One I just happen to know the details of. Details which are yours... for the right price. Meet me at this location in half a ten-day. I look forward to seeing you again."_ The Dathomire's lips slid into a grin before the transmission flicked out. 

"Do you believe her?" Ahsoka asked quietly, her full attention on Obi-Wan. The other man shrugged, raising a hand to stroke his beard. 

"She has no reason to lie about this, there are far easier ways to get our attention." Obi-Wan straightened up, "In any case, it doesn't matter. The Council has instructed us to rendezvous with her and find out any information.." 

"We have to know what she knows, especially if the Chancellor is at risk!" Anakin cut in, anger colouring his every word. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes slightly in response. 

"Yes Anakin, that's why we are meeting with her." Cody tensed as Obi-Wan turned to address him, "You and the Captain will be taking Ghost company to scout out the area while myself, Anakin and Ahsoka meet with Ventress." 

"Yes Sir," Cody responded blandly, tensing, waiting for the inevitable comment or apology that had followed every briefing, a quick glance at the other General he could tell he was waiting for the same. So imagine his surprise when Obi-Wan simply nodded his head at his response before looking down at his datapad. 

The four of them exchanged confused glances, Cody shifted slightly suddenly uncomfortable. Obi-Wan glanced back up at them, quirking an eyebrow in question. 

"Was there anything else you needed to say, _Master_?" Anakin questioned. The scathing way he said the word master used to have Obi-Wan flinching in hurt, now the man merely tilted his head thoughtfully. 

"No, that's everything." He replied lightly, his tone giving away nothing, before straightening up and walking away. 

Cody frowned slightly, wondering at the uncomfortable feeling that was rolling around the pit of his stomach. 

Why hadn't he apologised? 

-

Waxer glared down at the tasteless rations that he absently pushed around his plate. He glanced up as a hush fell over the mess hall, their General having walked in, eyes glued to pad in front of him. Waxer's gut twisted as the Jedi's head snapped up in surprise as a mug of tea was passed to him by Tasty, his eyes widened when the ship's cook smiled widely in answer. The General took the mug gratefully with a tight smile before moving past everyone to sit in the back of the mess, at the only empty table. He startled slightly when Boil slammed his fork down on the table beside him. 

"This is wrong!" Boil snarled, his fist clenching. Waxer glanced around noticing that many of his brother's had stopped their own conversations to stare at Boil, "Why are we still treating him like this?" He exclaimed, causing Waxer to wince and glance over at his General - the other man had not moved and made no indication that he had heard anything. 

"The Commander and General Skywalker seem pretty keen on not forgiving him." Wooley piped up, the

excuse sounding hollow to everyone. 

"But why are WE still treating him like this?!" Boil questioned again, a steady rage building. "He was given a mission and he carried it out. Hell the man's apologised kriff know's how many times for it, why is he still being punished." Waxer sighed, his vod a point, he had lost track of the amount of times the General had approached him too apologise. He had been willing to accept each and every one of them but he allowed himself to be stopped each time by the hard words shouted from the other General or the Commanders. Hell, even Captain Rex's silence had done it.

"You know you can stop, right?" Tasty said coming up behind them, shaking his head at the confused looks. 

"But Cody?" Waxer began.

"Isn't our General." Tasty replied with a shrug, "That man over there is. He has treated us with more kindness and respect than we would EVER get anywhere else. Anyone wants to keep blaming him for a situation that wasn't his fault, go right ahead, but they are going to have to deal with me from now on." All of the Vod listening in on the conversation nodded in agreement, Boil and Waxer included. Boil sucked a breath through his teeth sharply, his eyes tight. 

"Looks like we are staring now." He said as he watched Commander Tano wander her way up to the General. Both he and Waxer grabbed their trays, making their over to the General. They might not be able to beat some sense into the Commander, but they could run interference. 

-

Obi-Wan sighed as he took a seat at the back of the mess hall, concentrating on the writing on his datapad, missing the concerned looks that the Troopers sent him. His head jerked up at the clearing of a throat, he barely managed to conceal his surprise when he saw Ahsoka standing there. 

"Is everything alright?" Obi-Wan questioned lightly, watching with mild concern when the young Padawan's shoulders dropped, refusing to show any emotion that he was sure would be unwanted. 

"I...I wanted to say something to you Master Obi-Wan." His eyebrows raised in surprise at how nervous she appeared, the girl usually being a force to be reckoned with. Ahsoka opened her mouth but snapped it shut when Waxer and Boil gently nudged past her to sit at the table across from Obi-Wan. This time Obi-Wan didn't manage to conceal his shock. He watched as Ahsoka shifted awkwardly from side to side before finally sitting when he gestured to the seat next to him.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" He questioned wearily, taking Mace's advice had certainly made his life easier the past few days, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to being confronted in the mess. 

"We wanted to see how you were General." Waxer replied, sending a suspicious glance to Ahsoka that caused her to stiffen beside him. Obi-Wan was now completely confused, while Boil and Waxer hadn't launched scathing comments his way, he honestly couldn't remember the last time he had spoken with either one of the troopers. 

"I'm fine." He said shortly, reaching out to drain the last of his tea before standing abruptly, "If you'll excuse me." He turned and stalked abruptly out of the mess hall, missing the looks exchanged by his men.

This was going to be a long few days.

-

Anakin crossed his arms with a scowl as he leaned against the wall of the warehouse, they had been waiting for Ventress to show her face for close to two hours. The silence had only been broken a few times by Ahsoka trying to clear some of the tension. His Padawan seemed to have forgiven Obi-Wan, and he couldn’t stop the resentment that burned within him. He wished he could put it behind him and forgive his former Master, but for some reason he just couldn’t. Of course, over the past few days Obi-Wan had made it seem like he didn’t really care one way or the other, if Anakin actually forgave him.

All snide remarks thrown at him had been met with stoney silence or a simple raised eyebrow. He startled slightly when his comm chimed loudly in the silence.

_“General, speeder incoming. Looks like Ventress.”_ Rex’s voice sounds through the comm.

“Thanks Rex, keep an eye out.” Anakin said, shutting the comm off before Rex could respond, his hand’s clenching into fists at his side. It was vital they get the information out of the Assassin. He turned his head if as the door to the warehouse slid closed with a squeal, the noise grating in the echo of the warehouse.

Ventress sauntered over to the three of them, a smirk plastered on her pale face.

“Obi-Wan” She drawled, walking closer to the man, “You’re looking good for someone who’s just come back from the dead.” She said, standing well into Obi-Wan’s personal space. _Did she really need to stand that close to him?_ Anakin thought with a scowl, the familiar wave of protectiveness rising up within him.

“Always a pleasure my dear.” Obi-Wan responded, a slight smile gracing his face as he looked at the Assassin and did he have to flirt with everyone? “You said you had some information for us”

“No, I believe I said I had some information for _you_.” Ventress replied, causing Obi-Wan to raise an eyebrow and Anakin’s teeth to grind together. He was saved from making a snide remark by Ahsoka.

“Well, do you think that you could tell us what it is rather than flirting with Master Obi-Wan.” Ahsoka stated, and Anakin nodded in agreement. Ventress snorted in response causing Ahsoka to glare at her harder. 

“Feisty little Padawan, isn’t she?” Ventress questioned Obi-Wan.

“She does have a point.” Anakin watched in slight horror as Ventress reached a hand out and placed it on Obi-Wan’s chest, before she started circling him like a vulture droid, her hand never once leaving Obi-Wan’s body. Judging by the disgruntled noise coming from his Padawan, he wasn’t the only one who was slightly horrified. Obi-Wan didn’t move a muscle, simply following her with his eyes as much as he could.

“I also said you would get it for the right price.” The Assassin drawled, one hand continuing it’s exploration of Obi-Wan’s body. Anakin stalked forward, his rage easily felt through the force. Ventress’ eyes flickered to him briefly.

“And what is the price?” Anakin snarled rarely stopping himself from reaching for his lightsaber, Ventress laughed in response, seemingly unaffected by his anger. Anakin thought he might actually loose it when she stopped in front of Obi-Wan and looped one arm around his neck, pulling herself flush against him.

“What are you doing?!” Ahsoka shouted, her twin lightsaber’s flaring to life, Obi-Wan raised a hand in her direction which halted her from making any rash decisions. His grey-blue eyes twinkled slightly in what looked like amusement. Anakin was tempted to ignite his own ‘saber, no one should be molesting his master like that!

“I need a free ride to Coruscant.” She stated simply causing everyone to raise their eyebrows at that.

“I’m sure you don’t need my help getting there.” Obi-Wan said simply, making no move to dislodge the woman.

“No, but it will be so much simpler if THE Obi-Wan Kenobi, escorts me there himself.” Ventress replied. Both Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged wary glances, there is no way that is all there is too it, when Anakin voiced that thought, Ventress scoffed lightly, “Of course there is more to it than that, but at the moment that’s all I am willing to share. You get me to Coruscant, and I tell you what Dooku is planning.” Obi-Wan stared at her for a moment before tilting his head to the side slightly.

“Allow me to contact the Council.” He said in response, ignoring Anakin and Ahsoka’s incredulous looks. Ventress smirked, taking her time untangling herself from Obi-Wan before moving over to perch on one of the crates scattered throughout the warehouse. Anakin scrambled after the other man as he stalked out of the warehouse.

“Obi-Wan!” Anakin called out as they got closer to where Ghost Company were stationed, “Hey, Obi-Wan, wait!” Anakin shouted, grabbing a hold of him and pulling him around to face him as gently as he could.

“Yes, what is it Anakin?” Obi-Wan responded wearily, and Anakin honestly couldn’t blame him. He couldn’t remember the last time he a voluntarily reached out and touched the other man since he came back. By now the Troopers and Ahsoka had reached them and were watching the interaction with slight concern.

“Are you OK?” Anakin asked, trying to ignore the widening of Obi-Wan’s eyes or the chocked sound coming from the Troopers.

“I’m fine.” He replied, no word of a lie in the statement.

“Are you sure, Master? Because she was all over you?” Ahsoka stated, worry bleeding in the force around her.

“What?!” Came the exclamation from the Troopers around them, Cody ripping his bucket off almost violently.

“What do you mean?” Cody asked, directing the question to Ahsoka. Anakin watched as the rest of Ghost Company also took their buckets off, only slightly less violently than Cody had.

“It’s true, Ventress had her hand's all over him. It was really weird.” Ahsoka muttered with a slight shudder, while Obi-Wan rolled his eyes slightly. Anakin could feel the rage building within the men, quickly matching his own.

“This is hardly worth discussing, I need to contact the Council. Now, if you would excuse me?” Obi-Wan said, glancing pointedly at Anakin’s hand that was still on his arm. He reluctantly let him go, staring after him as Obi-Wan walked further away from them.

“What did she do to him?” Waxer asked, concern radiating off of him.

“She was running her hands all over him, she just wouldn’t stop touching him.” Anakin said shivering faintly in disgust. Cody and Rex barely managed to contain the growl that ripped from their throats. Waxer, Boil and Wooley all had outrage clearly written on their faces.

“Oh, don’t be such a prude Skywalker.” Anakin stiffened as he turned rounds to face Ventress, annoyance that he hadn’t sensed her approach. “I mean, can you blame me? Look at him.” She drawled gesturing with her hand towards the figure in the distance. This time Rex and Cody didn’t even try to hide the growl that escaped them, hands clenching into fists.

“Listen here, you need to stay away from him!” Cody growled out, taking a step towards her. She turned in response, hand twitching towards the lightsabers strapped to her hips. In the blink of an eye, lightsabers were ignited and blasters raised.

“That’s enough!” Obi-Wan ground out, striding back towards the group, his face carefully blank. Begrudgingly all the weapons were lowered when Obi-Wan turned to Ventress, “The Council have agreed to you terms. We will escort you to Coruscant in exchange for any information that you have on Dooku’s plan.” Ventress sent a smug smile towards Anakin who thought his teeth might grind to dust at any moment.

“And I assume you will guarantee my safe delivery?” Ventress said moving closer to Obi-Wan again, skilfully ignoring the irate shuffling around her.

“Of course, provide you agree to play nice with the men.” Obi-Wan replied with a smirk.

“Anything for you dearest.” Ventress replied, reaching a hand up to stroke Obi-Wan’s face. Cries of outrage came from the clones, but they were silenced with a look from Obi-Wan.

Anakin was just having a melt down by this point.

-

Cody scowled as the transport landed back on the Negotiator, the Assassin had kept as close to the General as was physically possible the whole way back and it was grating on Cody’s last nerve. Glancing around he could see that everyone was on edge, everyone except the General and Ventress who were chatting away like they were old friends. As the ramp descended and everyone moved into the hanger bay, he found that he couldn’t hold his tongue anymore.

“Sir!” He ground out, harsher than he intended, “Can we speak with you a moment. Alone.” He said with a pointed glare at Ventress who simply smirked in return. Obi-Wan nodded gesturing for Ventress to go on ahead of him. Cody fumed as she walked way, seething at the thought of her having free rein of the ship.

“What is it?” Obi-Wan questioned, his eyes darted between the group standing in front of him.

“This is a terrible idea, Sir. We should not be helping her.” He growled out, seeing the others nodding in agreement. “I don’t like this.”

“And I appreciate that Commander.” Obi-Wan said blandly, Cody flinching slightly at the use of his title over his name, “But these are our orders, this is happening wither we like it or not.” Obi-Wan moved to turn away, seemingly deeming the conversation to be over. He let out a huff grabbing at Obi-Wan’s arm. Shock ripped through him as his arm was grabbed back and three bodies were placed between him and the General.

“Are you alright Sir?” Waxer questioned, glaring over at Cody with such a ferocity that he almost stumbled back in shock.

“I’m fine, Waxer.” Obi-Wan replied, before gently nudging the three of them out the way to face Cody once more, indicating that he was not wanting the three of them to get mixed up in this, but they didn’t move far, circling around the Jedi protectively.

“What was that?” Anakin asked, he Ahsoka and Rex stood wide-eyed at the scene in front on them.

“I’m sorry, vod. We let you put your hands on the General once, it’s not happening again.” Boil said glaring over at them. This time Cody did rear back in shock, his eyes widening and hands shaking slightly, his mind flashing back to when Obi-Wan had returned from his mission; 

  
_Cody stared in utter dis-belief as General Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped off the transport looking the exact same as he had before his mission. Before he had “died”._

_The silence that rolled through the hanger bay was almost deafening, Cody stared straight ahead barely blinking as the Jedi approached him. His mind went blank as the shorter man stopped in front of him, opening his mouth to speak._

_Cody didn’t even realise he had punched the man until his head went flying to the side. There was no anger on the General’s face, just weary acceptance that this was all he was going to get. All he deserved. Cody pushed down the guilt that threatened to drown him, the guilt at hitting a superior officer. The guilt at hitting a friend. He would not feel guilty about this, this was deserved!_

_“Kriff you, Sir.” He watched with grim satisfaction as the harsh words did more damage than the punch had. Cody turned on his heel and walked away from the other man._

Cody had no intention of every hurting the man again, surely his brother’s knew that.

“I…I wasn’t going to…” Cody stammered, trailing off at the disbelieving looks he received in return. The only one who didn’t seem bothered by the whole thing was the one person who was entitled to believe he would hurt him again

“Perhaps we should just leave this for now, it has been a very long, very strange day.” Obi-Wan said, placing a hand gently on Boil’s shoulder, the other man deflating at the comforting gesture. Cody tried to push the jealousy down, but judging from the glare Waxer sent him he wasn’t able to.

“No.” Anakin said in response stepping beside Cody, Rex appearing on his other side. “No, something is going on with you. You have been acting weird.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Obi-Wan replied warily, exhaustion showing on his face.

“It’s just… Sir, you’ve been different the past few days and we are starting to worry about you.” Rex said, Cody and Anakin nodding in agreement. They weren’t ready for the utter disbelief to cross the General’s face or for the anger to show on Waxer and Boils, Wooley flat out snorted in disbelief.

“With all due respect, Captain, but I honestly can’t remember the last time we even had a conversation, so I am curious as to how I have been acting differently?” Obi-Wan questioned tightly. Cody saw Rex tense out the corner of his eye. Realisation showed on Waxer’s face before it gave way to utter rage.

“You stopped apologising.” Waxer growled out, Obi-Wan stared in shock at Cody, Rex and Anakin.

“Is that true?” He said in disbelief, “You’re worried about me because I stopped apologising to you all?”

This isn’t quite how Cody pictured this conversation going

-

Anakin winced at the question, when he said it like that it just sounded petty and wrong. He watched as Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair muttering curses.

“It’s just, you were trying so hard to earn our forgiveness, that when you just stopped…” Anakin trailed off uncertainly at the glares he received.

“I wasn’t trying to _earn_ your forgiveness Anakin, I was begging for it.” Obi-Wan suddenly shouted, the three of them reeling in shock. It took a lot for Obi-Wan to properly loose his temper, but when he did it could be down right frightening. “And everyone made it perfectly clear that I wasn’t going to get it. What exactly did you expect me to do? You clearly needed the time and some distance, so that’s what I decided to give you.”

Anakin floundered at that, he had wanted to forgive Obi-Wan and genuinely couldn’t understand why he was having such a hard time moving on from it. The Chancellor had told him, Obi-Wan must have chosen to keep this secret from him simply because he didn’t trust him. But his mind flashed through every conversation that Obi-Wan had tried to have with him and all he could see was true regret and sorrow on his face.

“I understand you being angry, and I understand you hating me.” Anakin’s eyes widened, the denial on his lips. Cody and Rex were frantically shaking their head. Ahsoka had a shaking hand clasped to her mouth, her eyes glassy with tears. “I understand it. And I will regret hurting you all the way that I have for as long as I live, but I am done being a verbal sparring droid for you.”

“We don’t… you’re not…” Cody stuttered helplessly, causing Obi-Wan’s eyebrows to skyrocket.

“No? You sure about that? All you have done is take your anger out on me.” Rex moved to interrupt, but stopped when Obi-Wan raised his hand, “And I said I understood and I do, but I can’t keep going on like this. You needed the space so I am giving you it.” Obi-Wan stated, his eyes hard. He was prevented from saying anymore when a flustered Longshot came running over to them. He snapped a salute towards Obi-Wan.

“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt…this, but the Assassin has just broken into your quarters and is refusing to leave until she see’s you.” Anakin felt the protective rage raise up within him, biting his lip to keep his mouth shut. After Obi-Wan’s revelation he wasn’t sure his protective streak would be welcome. Obi-Wan nodded before turning and leaving the hanger without another word.

Anakin moved to follow but was stopped by Waxer, Boil and Wooley forming a human shield between the two General’s.

“I’m sorry Sir, but we meant what we said, no-one else is hurting our General again.” Boil said, torn between protecting his own General and getting in the way of another one.

“I’m not going to hurt him Boil, but we need to sort this.” Anakin said quietly, “The way that you three have.”

“With all due respect Sir, we forgave him the moment we found out he was alive.” Waxer responded icily, ignoring the the shocked looks that crossed their faces. Waxer looked down guiltily, “The only reason that we acted the way that we did was because of you four. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t OK but we thought that we should be following our vod.” He said indicating to Rex and Cody, “But you were wrong.”

“That’s when we decided that we weren’t going to treat him the way that he had been. He didn’t deserve to be treated like that.” Boil said, the other clones in the room nodding in agreement.

Anakin wasn’t sure how they were going to fix this mess.

-

Obi-Wan walked through the halls towards his quarters, nodding his head to the soldiers who stopped to great him. He wasn’t sure what had changed for the rest of the men to go back to how they used to act around him, be he wasn’t completely ready to bridge the distance he had created. Constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He sighed as the door slid open, his eyes landing on the pale figure perched on the desk, two crystal glasses half filled with amber liquid sitting beside her hip.

“I was wondering when you were going to show up.” Ventress purred, picking up one of the glasses and taking a long swig. Obi-Wan sighed, before walking over to grab the other glass and sat down on the desk chair, draining the glass in one swallow.

“You want to tell me what your little act was all about?” Obi-Wan said, holding the glass out for her to re-fill. Ice blue eyes stared down at him in amusement as she topped up the glass.

“A little birdie was telling me about some of the troubles you have been having since you resurrection, and I saw an opportunity to divert some of Skywalker’s misplaced anger.” She said, the gleam in her eye prominent, “Plus it’s fun to piss him off.” Her expression showing true delight as Obi-Wan snorted in amusement.

“Well, you certainly managed that.” He responded dryly, taking another sip, before turning a calculating look towards Ventress, “This little birdie of yours wouldn’t happen to go by Quinlan Vos would it?” He questioned, guessing the answer was right when she threw her head back with laughter.

“He bet me 10 credits that you would guess within minutes.” Ventress replied, not many knew of the friendship between the two but Obi-Wan had his suspicions. Not that we would begrudge either of them the need for some companionship, “He heard rumours of what’s been going on with you, seeing as how you two haven’t properly talked since you’ve been back.” There was no hiding the wince at those words. He’s worried about you.”

“He usually does.” Obi-Wan murmured, “I’m more surprised he isn’t on the list of people who can’t stand me.”

“I was there when he found out.” Ventress murmured, Obi-Wan snapped his head to her in surprise, “Both times actually.” Obi-Wan glanced down, fingers clenching round the glass, only easing when long elegant fingers reached out to touch the back of his hand. “He was devastated when he heard you had been killed.” Obi-Wan swallowed, fighting back the burn in his eyes.

“He…he should have been told the truth.” He muttered, Ventress hummed in agreement.

“But Kenobi, I was also there when he found out you were alive. I’ve never seen someone that relived, that happy. He was genuinely so happy to hear that you were OK.” Ventress said, the wonder in her voice made Obi-Wan’s heart ache for the her. Their past had been horrible to say the least, but the woman in front of him glowed, no longer under Dooku’s oppressive thumb had allowed her to truly flourish.

“He’s the one that gave you this idea.” It wasn’t a question, Ventress shrugged, the smirk returning to her face.

“He said it would piss off Skywalker, I was on board at that point.” She said standing from the desk and stalking over to him. Ventress placed a foot between his spread legs and gently nudged them further open and stepped between his legs, her knees knocking against the front of the seat, Obi-Wan stared up at her in amusement before something dawned on him.

"Hold on, you do actually have intel on Dooku, right?" Ventress snorted, before pulling out a data chip _and where had she been keeping that?_

"Everything you need to know." She stated, placing it down on the desk. She wobbled slightly and Obi-Wan’s free hand shot to her hip to steady her.

“Dare I ask how many of these you’ve had?” Obi-Wan said with a raised eyebrow. Ventress snorted in response, one of her hands running through his hair absently.

“Only two.” She responded evenly, “Although I haven’t eaten in three days so I’m sure that’s not helping.” Obi-Wan sighed in response, _and people think I can’t take care of himself._ He pushed gently at her hip, moving her back enough to give him room to stand, dumping the glass down on his desk.

“Come on, let’s get you some food. Tasty seems to have forgiven me enough he might be willing to rustle something up for us.”

-

Ventress snorted slightly as yet another plate of rations was pushed in front of her. Turns out that Kenobi wasn’t one to ask his men for favours, so when he and Ventress had walked into the crew’s quarters to ask the ships cook to prepare a small meal for them, the man had practically fallen over himself to get to the mess hall. When they had mentioned how long it has been since either of them had eaten, they had trouble getting him to stop preparing more rations. Mugs of tea were placed down on the table next to them.

“If you need anything else let me know.” Tasty said, practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of helping them more.

“Thank you Tasty, but I think this will do.” Obi-Wan replied, amusement colouring every word. Ventress waited for the other man to leave before digging in. They ate in relative silence, she flushed slightly when me pushed his remaining plate over to her, content with the mug of tea. She finished off the rest of the plate before studying the man seated across from her. He always looked like he had the weight of a world on his shoulders, but since he had started baring that weight alone, he looked more drained.

“So, do you think that things with your men will go back to normal eventually?” Ventress questioned lightly, watching as Obi-Wan shrugged lightly.

“Honestly, majority of them seem to be over it, seemingly over night. It’s Anakin I’m worried about.” Ventress nodded, opening her mouth but Obi-Wan cut her off, “We don’t need to do this you know? We can just sit here.” He said and she smiled slightly at that, as much fun as the banter between her and the Jedi was, slightly heavier topics where way out of her comfort zone.

A hand on her shoulder made her realise that she was starting to doze. Obi-Wan pulled her up and guided her back to his quarters, he pushed her to lie on the bed in his quarters, muttering something unintelligible that drew a startled chuckle from him. Her head hit the pillow, the scent of sandalwood and something else she couldn’t name lulling her to sleep.

-

Anakin paced in front of the door to Obi-Wan’s quarters, he raised his hand to knock before pulling it back down to resume his pacing. He was so invested in his worrying he didn’t notice Cody or Rex standing behind him till the latter reached out to grab his shoulder. Anakin would deny the squeal that left him for as long as he lived.

“Rex! Cody!” What are you two doing here?” He exclaimed, glancing between the two, valiantly trying to ignore the amusement that radiated off the two.

“We were just on our way to see the General. See if we couldn’t clear some of the air…” Rex trailed off uncertainly, Cody brushed up against his shoulder in a show of support. Anakin smiled tightly.

“Looks like we had the same idea.” Anakin said, before turning back to the door. He took a deep breathe, knocked twice then swiped the controls to open the door. Anakin entered the room, coming to a halt when he spotted his former Master stirring on the couch, he felt a bit guilty knowing that he had woken him up. Anakin knew how little sleep Obi-Wan tended to get.

He glanced at Rex and Cody prepared to tell them that they should come back later when he noticed the two of them gaping at Obi-Wan, a flush rising up the back of their necks. He turned back and realised what they were both mesmerised by, hiding a snigger behind his fist. Obi-Wan had pushed himself up, the blanket that had been covering and been flung to the side revealing the fact he was only clad in a small pair of shorts. Miles of pale skin was exposed, a muscular chest and strong, solid legs were more than most people would expect from the reserved Jedi. Obi-Wan kept himself wrapped in layers upon layers of Jedi robes that it always took came as a shock to people when they saw how in shape the Jedi Master actually was.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan questioned, carding a hand through his hair, “What are you doing here?”

“We, ah wanted to talk to you.” Anakin said, subtly sending an elbow into Rex’s ribs in an effort to get the man to shut his mouth.

“And it couldn’t wait till I was at least dressed?” Calling attention to his state of undress brought forth a noise from Cody that had both Jedi’s raising their eyebrows, he knew his Master was attractive but come on. An exasperated sigh left Obi-Wan, as he stood, stretching slightly, “Give me a moment.” He said moving further into the room, towards the fresher. Anakin’s eyes widened when the lump on Obi-Wan’s bed shifted and a bald head popped out from the sheets. Icy blue eyes widened when she took in everyone in the room before settling on Obi-Wan’s nearly naked form, and Anakin had the sudden urge to throw is robes over the other man. The rage coming from the two clones nearly convinced him.

“Well, hello General.” Ventress drawled leaning against the wall behind the bed. Obi-Wan shook his head before moving to the fresher.

Anakin really hoped that he didn’t take too long.

-

Obi-Wan glanced between the three men sat opposite him, before turning his concentration back to his tea. Being ambushed first thing in the morning was not how he liked to start his day.

“Care to explain what it is that you needed to say to me the second I woke up?” Obi-Wan muttered, watching as they all shifted at the reminder of the uncomfortable morning.

“We wanted to clear somethings up. About what you said last night.” Anakin replied, suddenly finding the table very interesting.

“Oh?” Obi-Wan questioned lightly, although he was sure that no one has missed the way that he tensed at the reminder of the conversation.

“Yeah, see the thing is General…” Rex trailed off suddenly, not sure how best to go about this.

“We don’t hate you Sir.” Cody blurted out, Rex and Anakin bobbed their head in agreement.

“That’s nice of you to say Commander…” Obi-Wan didn’t miss the wince this time, “But as I said last night, I understand why you would.”

“Be see that’s just it, we really don’t.” Anakin butt in, “We were upset, and hurt and angry sure! But we didn’t _hate_ you.” He spat the word out like it had personally offended him. Obi-Wan looked between the three of them and sighed, nodding slightly.

“Alright, I appreciate you saying.” He said tightly, “Was there anything else?” Obi-Wan said, watching as confusion appeared on their faces.

“Erh, no Sir. That was everything.” Obi-Wan nodded in acknowledgement before standing and heading off to track down Ventress.

Force only knew what she was getting up too.

-

Rex watched from the corner of the hanger bay as Ahsoka seemed to mentally prepare herself before stalking over to General Kenobi. The other man stiffened slightly, but it was so subtle that unless you were paying attention you wouldn’t have noticed. Rex watched as the usually confident Commander struggled to look the other man in the eye, scuffing her feet along the floor, making Rex remember how painfully young she actually was.

By the time Cody joined him in his observation, not stalking this clearly wasn’t stalking, the blank look that Obi-Wan had been sporting when ever he spoke to them had faded into something warmer. A small smile tugged at his lips as he reached a hand out and placed it on the young girls shoulder, halting her mid rant. Her glassy eyes staring up in wonder at the man.

“Looks like they two have made up.” Cody said dryly, Rex snorted as Ahsoka threw herself at the other man, drawing a startled laugh from him as he took a step to steady the pair of them, as Ahsoka wrapped her arms around his middle.

“You think?” Rex replied, trying not laugh at the half hearted glare his vod sent him. He stumbled as Cody shoved his shoulder. 

-

Anakin glared at the bald head in front of him, the transport had finally landed on Coruscant and he was ready to be done with the menace in front of him. He squinted in the sunshine as he followed Obi-Wan and Ventress down the ramp. His head snapped up when a load shout ran throughout the docking bay.

“Obi!” Quinlan Vos shouts from the other end of the platform. Anakin is joined by Rex and Cody as they watch in stunned silence, as the other man throws himself onto Obi-Wan. Ventress snorts in amusement.Unfortunately for Obi-Wan, Quinlan uses a bit more force, and is a lot heavier, than Ahsoka and he is unable to stop them from falling back. Anakain winced a the pained grunt that escaped Obi-Wan as his back made contact with the durasteel below him.

“Quinlan, what in Sith hells…” Obi-Wan begins but cuts himself when his eyes meet Quinlan’s, his own face showing guilt, “Quinlan I…”

“Don’t!” Quinlan cuts him off, causing Obi-Wan’s mouth to snap shut, “Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?” Obi-Wan goes to open his mouth again, but snaps it shut and simply nods at his friend who wraps his arms around his friend, muttering over and over “You’re OK” Anakin winces when he realises that this is the welcome home he should have given his former Master, his friend. His brother. Shame fills him, forcing him to look away. A quick glance at Rex and Cody’s wrecked expression’s he knows they feel the exact same way.

The three of them have a lot of making up to do.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have made it to the end of this story, that grew some serious arms and legs, thank you! 
> 
> Please do leave a comment as it only helps me get better
> 
> Athena Reigns x


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